Lillium
by LilliumSuicide
Summary: Enemies. That's what we are... Or, at least, we used to be. For years i didn't think anything could possibly change... i guess i was wrong.
1. Chapter 1

Summary

That was the last time I ever saw her.

It all happened three years ago, when I was twelve, back when I was trying to expose Zim at every waking moment. The stupid alien, it's his fault anyway. His fault that the one person who I could ever connect with is dead – all his fucking fault. If he had never come here, Cai, my friend, my only friend, would still be alive.

I wish he'd gone somewhere else, rather than coming to this planet - to my planet. Why can't he just leave? He's already made my already miserable life unbearable, he has every bit of information he needs to conquer this damn planet. That was the only reason he came here, after all – to gather information. I never thought he'd stay inconspicuous all these years, let alone succeed in his mission.

He took all meaning from my life, made it a complete nightmare; it takes all my courage just to get up and talk to someone, they'd probably think I'm crazy before I even opened my mouth.

Sure, they all know me; know me as the crazy kid who thinks aliens are real, the kid who plants cameras in the forest trying to capture footage of Bigfoot. And they're right, or, they used to be. I'm still interested in paranormal science, but not any of that crazy stuff I used to believe in. No, I only study what I know – and have known for the past four years – to be real. I don't care if they believe me now, or anytime soon. They will see; they will see that I'm not insane, that aliens do exist. And Zim will be the first one I unmask.

Prologue

I had never run faster in my life than I was now. Trailing shortly behind me was my enemy, though it was not him I was running from. No, he was the least of my worries. It was the destruction to which I was running from, an invisible force that demolished everything in its path, and it was heading straight for me.

Inside, I was torn, part of me – the rational part – told me to run, to get the hell out of there before it caught up with me. The other told me to turn around, and try to save the person just mere meters from it. I didn't know what part of me wanted me to do that, it was irrational, against my better judgment, against all morals. I just had to. It was one of those things you can't explain, like if a sibling was in immediate danger. In truth, one was. I didn't really think of Gaz as my sister, not in that sense. It was the person behind us that I felt scared for, rather than myself. The one I had considered as my sister ever since I met her, she was the only person who really understood me. I looked back at her, slowing my pace, trying to find her sleek figure among the wreckage that was getting closer with every step. My fear was reflected in her face, etched onto her features, marring her once cheery expression.

"Run!!!" she screamed "Get out of here! Go anywhere, just run!!!"

She had no concern whatsoever for her own safety. It was this that made me want to stop and turn back – her devotion to Zim's and my safety, rather than her own life.

She was a born leader, if she said something – particularly something like this – it needed to be recognized. She'd said things like this before, but only to be heeded as a warning. This time it was different; this time it was an order. It was this that caused the conflict in my mind, rationality or morality, both for her benefit.

I almost completely stopped, causing Zim to run into me. We came crashing down, something that wouldn't be much different from a normal chase – If we weren't in mortal danger that is.

"What are you doing!?!" The alien hissed, scrambling to get up "That thing's gonna kill us if we don't get out of here! – or, on second thought," Zim had finally gotten to his feet and started sprinting away. He turned his head to look at me as he ran "Stay down, Dib! I don't care if it kills you!!"

I got one last look at the Irken before he turned to look ahead, barely missing the low wall he was about to run into. He leaped over it, being careful not to catch his feet on it. I turned my attention away, feeling slightly disappointed; it would have been quite amusing if the wall _had_ in fact tripped him.

"Get up!"

Cai was next to me, pulling me up. Once I was on my feet again, we broke into a run, trying desperately to avoid obstacles I had not noticed before. Cai gained speed when we reached the wall, clearing it easily. 'Damn' I thought 'why did I skip out on gym class when we were doing track?'

I had to slow down, and use my hand for balance as I clambered over the wall. I soon caught up with Cai, who was directly behind Zim. It took all my strength to get ahead of them

"Ha!" I yelled back at them "Who's superior now, Zim?"

"Silence!" the Irken shouted "How dare you question my superiority!?!" I could only laugh, he'd been saying it for years, but he never seemed to say _why_ exactly he was so superior. "If you weren't already running, I'd sure as hell give you a reason to!!!"

"Zim! Look out! Ahh!"

I whipped around at the sound of Cai's scream, it was too quiet, I hadn't realized how far ahead I'd gotten. I expected to hear something else, but there was nothing, not a sound.

My whole world came crashing down.

It seemed that the destructive force – whatever it was – was retreating, or rather, reversing. It recoiled, leaving everything it had touched back as it normally was. But as I saw this I noticed something, one minor detail. Zim was sprawled on the ground, coughing, trying to catch his breath. But there was no one to accompany him, he was completely alone.

"Cai…?" I said, the words barely escaping my lips. I tried again "Cai! Where are you!?!" I looked around, searching, not caring about anything else. "Cai!!" but the words were pointless. I didn't get an answer, I never would.

"Oww… My head" wait, something wasn't right… did I always sound this… weird? No, something was definitely wrong. I didn't feel any different, really, nothing immediately noticeable, at least. Well, nothing apart from the fact that I was still alive.

"How… how did I survive?" was all I managed to say. As an invader, we were trained to expect anything, to be ready for anything. But no amount of training could have prepared me for this, not for what was happening.

"You…" the words were spoken softly, but I could hear the anger in them. "…What. Did. You. Do."

I looked up to find Dib standing over me

"Dib… I–"

"Don't" he jerked away as I reached up "Don't come near me"

My fingers curled in as my hand slowly lowered. I didn't understand; just a few moments ago he put himself in danger for me, not caring what happened. I tried to get up, but, realizing how weak I was, sunk back down onto my knees. I tried again, slower this time, staggering until I regained my balance.

"Dib… Wait"

"Leave me alone!" I was taken aback by the sudden outburst "I don't want your sympathy, Zim – I don't need it! Just leave me alone!"

It took a few seconds for the words to register in my mind. Zim…that's my name… I suddenly wasn't sure of anything, how could I be if I didn't even know who I was? I looked up at the place where Dib had been – now vacant. Realizing there was nothing keeping me here, I trudged off in the direction of my base, not really paying attention to anything as I passed.

The walk back to the base seemed endless, but I finally reached my destination. I went inside, only to find GIR sprawled on the ground. Strange round disc-like things were spread around him, one was in his mouth. When he spotted me he shot up and came over, holding out his arm.

"I made cookies!!! Duu you want wun?"

"…Huh…?"

GIR cocked his head to the side, confused

"Is master not hungry?"

What did he just call me?

"…Master?"

GIR shrieked and ran over, squeezing my leg – it was all he could reach

"Yews is my master! And I made you cookies!"

That's right, I was his master.

"…That's good, GIR… now go, umm…" what could I make him do that wouldn't bother me? …Who was I kidding, I was too tired to really think about anything "just go do something, okay?"

"Okai! Hmm, I'll go– no, wait! I'll…"

I had stopped listening to the little robot. He wouldn't care, probably didn't even notice as I slipped off into the elevator. I mumbled something that sounded vaguely like 'sleeping quarters' and slumped against the wall, closing my eyes. Nothing seemed to make sense.

I opened my eyes several minutes after the elevator had stopped, getting out and walking over to the bed. After many failed attempts, I finally slipped into unconsciousness, welcoming the calming darkness that took over.

I don't know how long it had been, but I awoke to find something standing over me. I was used to things being taller than me, so this came as no surprise; it was the sound it made that startled me

"Guess who made waffles?"

The little robot said – perhaps screamed would be a better description. I looked up at GIR, who had a silly, wide grin on his face. I reached behind my head and flung the pillow at him, sending him flying across the room. I nearly smiled.


	2. Chapter 2

"Dib…"  
Ugh, now was not the time to piss me off. "Just leave me alone, Zim…"  
"Dib, this is not the time to be sleeping. Disrupt my class again any you will get detention, understand?"  
"…Huh?" I shot straight up, looking around; I noticed that people were staring. "…Great" my head flopped down on my desk, my one long strand of hair dangling over the edge.  
"Why is it always you, Dib?"  
I looked up at my teacher, and spoke without really thinking it through  
"Believe me – I've been asking myself the same thing for four years…"  
Shaking her head, Ms. Carmac walked back to the front of the class.  
"…As I was saying before Dib decided to take a nap, I want this essay done by next week. And for those of you who missed every word I said" she paused to glance in my direction "you need to write a five paragraph essay, which should be simple enough. It needs to be well structured and checked over by an adult, not another student. Not unless you want to fail the assignment. You will be writing about a topic of your choosing; it can be almost anything, within reason. Remember; on my desk, Monday"  
It was soon after that the bell rang and I walked out of the classroom and went to my locker.  
"So, what are you doing your report on, dib-stink?"  
I looked up to see Zim leaning against an adjacent one.  
"Calling me names… real cute, Zim" I shut my locker and turned around, only to find the alien blocking my path "I hate it when you do that" He only smiled, taking advantage of my surprise. "…what do you want this time?"  
"Want? I want a lot of things, Dib"  
"Seriously, Zim. If you don't want to talk about it, why bring it up?" I tried to walk past, but was blocked by his arm "I'm not in the mood for games"  
"Game? Who said anything about games? All I'm asking is if you're gonna make a fool of your self by trying to expose me" His smile widened, showing his teeth "How long has it been since you've tried something? I lost track after the first few months…"  
Thankfully the bell chose that moment to ring, allowing me an escape  
"Don't count on it"  
And with that, I left him. He was practically gawking at me as I walked off. I looked back to check, he seemed to have taken a few seconds to collect himself, then left, shrugging it off.  
I didn't see Zim for the next few days, it made me wonder if he actually thought I would do my report on him. Heh, I could only imagine is face, listening to it, checking every fact. What would be even funnier is if people actually believed a single word of it. It made me smile, just thinking about it. Unfortunately, it was only several minutes later that I realized people were staring. Blushing, I reached into my bag to get my textbook, which I was supposed to be reading. Yet, even as I read over the small text, my mind was on other things – mainly Zim, and as much as I hated to admit it, I was curious as to what he was doing. Missing school wasn't uncommon for him, but he made it pretty obvious that he was doing it to work on his next plan. Also, the cameras I set up in his house a few years ago had their advantages. But I had checked them the previous night, with no success as to finding out what he was up to, or the reason for his ominous disappearance. I didn't see him for the rest of the week, either. It led me to think that he was working extremely hard on whatever he was doing. Who knows, perhaps it was the report that he was focused on.  
He did decide to show up on Monday, though, and from the looks of it, he had been preparing for the oral presentation.

It was 20 minutes to the end of class, and there were still two presentations left. Coincidentally, mine and Dib's. I waited eagerly for the next name to be called, experiencing a slight euphoria as the seconds ticked by. If my name is called, hopefully I can bore them to death (a cause for celebration, in my opinion) before Dib comes up. If not, then my – superior – report will surely dull any previous thoughts on the matter of my… being.  
"…Next up, Zim, so if you can all stay awake for just a few more minutes and give him your full, undivided attention"  
"Thank you Mrs. Carmac" Smiling, I went up to the front of the class, looking over my essay before snatching a glance in dib's direction. No doubt he had no idea as to what was coming, like everyone else in the class. "I did my report on a curious little theory, commonly referred to as a 'Time Paradox'


	3. Chapter 3

At the mention of those words, Dib shot straight up in his chair. His eyes grew wide as I pressed on, not the desired effect, but still quite satisfactory. When I finished, his mouth was slightly ajar, almost hanging slack. Returning to my seat, I smirked as I passed him, quite enjoying his ignorance of this particular topic. Strange, I had thought he would have devoted most – if not all – of his spare time trying to find information on it.  
Most of the class had stopped paying attention by the time Dib got up. He stammered at the first few sentences, but other than that, failed to capture my interest. I didn't really bother trying to listen to anything the Dib-worm was saying, as it had nothing to do with aliens – a first for him. When he finished, he sat down, looking sheepish. 

"What the hell was that!?!" 

The rest of the class had cleared out, leaving only the two of us. 

"I don't know what you mean, Dib," I tried to be as calm as possible, it went better than expected.  
"You know full well what I'm talking about! But, why? Why, only years later, do you bring it up? You never once even brushed the subject until now – what made things so different?"  
"What you fail to grasp Dib, is that we – Irkens – don't hold on to our past. I have no problem discussing the topic; it is you that has always avoided mentioning it," well, almost better, "Why do you bother – still feeling for her? She's dead, and sooner or later you'll have to realize that you can't hold on to that. It makes you weak. Your emotions make you vulnerable, to everything I – and others – throw at you."  
"No, Zim, they don't. My emotions make me who I am – human."  
"So you have no problem, then, holding on, never healing?"  
"Remembering is how I heal, but I wouldn't expect you to understand that."  
"Healing that way takes too long – and even then, you still feel, the pain still lingers."  
"I can't just cast away my emotions, Zim! And I doubt you can, either."  
"…I stopped feeling all your stupid 'emotions' long ago, and I do not intend on going back on that." It was a very long time ago; centuries ago; perhaps even longer.  
"No? Then how do you explain your feelings towards me – and everyone else here – for the past four years, ever since you got here? Hate is an emotion too, Zim. But perhaps there's something else – perhaps you're afraid of feeling anything else, what if your 'hate' is just a mask of insecurity, something for you to hide behind." Until then, I had been looking down, but my gaze snapped back up towards the boy, "You can't hide forever, Zim. Someday you'll have to face things as they are. And as much as I hate to say it; she was your friend too, and the only way to get through this is to… rely on… each other," his hand reached forward, it stopped to rest on my shoulder, sending a jolt through me. I immediately swatted it away.  
"I don't need you, or your stupid emotions! You're wrong, if you think that you'll find reassurance, or whatever it is you're looking for, in me. We're enemies, Dib," I spat the last part in his face, "We always will be!" 

I stormed out of the classroom. Just who did he think he was? Whatever, he's not worth it, not worth my valuable – ever decreasing – time. After dumping everything in my locker, I went back to my base, skipping the last class. My attendance won't matter, not now that I'm so close. Everything I've worked for will finally pay off within the next few days, then they will see exactly what I can do.  
At least the Dib-human understood the message I was trying to convey; he's not as stupid as he looks, even with that big head of his. But why did he have to get so… emotional? It was three years ago, it shouldn't matter anymore, not to him. He hardly even knew her… not like I did. And as much as I hated to admit it, it was slightly comforting to know that he suffered along with me, and that he is just as weak as I am.  
It wasn't 'til a few days later that we spoke again.  
"What are you doing?"  
I looked up to see that he was standing over me, trying to snatch a glimpse of the plans I was working on. I glared back up at him, "What's it to you, Dib-worm?"  
"Nothing, really… but you've been working on it for a while… and this is the first time you haven't made it entirely obvious as to what you're up to."  
"And?"  
"Well… I guess that's it. I guess I'm just curious."  
"Inquiring eyes seek what they cannot have. What makes you think I'll tell you what I'm working on?"  
"I don't know… it seems like I hardly know anything anymore."  
"Don't you think that was proven last week; in your show of weakness?"  
"That wasn't weakness, Zim. Not by my definition."  
"Well, then your definition's wrong, then, isn't it?"  
"Words can have more than one meaning… sometimes they contradict, sometimes they don't."  
"Then English is a stupid language – what happened to everything only has one meaning? Besides, I'm wasting my time, and I thought you stopped talking to me?"  
"I stopped because you did. Why try to talk to someone who wants nothing to do with you?"  
"So you finally see my point, do you?"  
"Yeah, I guess I have..."  
He shrugged as he said it, pausing only to press his lips into a hard – almost apologetic – line, before going back to his assigned seat.  
"…Idiot…"  
"…Jerk…"  
Underneath the wig, my antenna perked up slightly, I didn't think he'd heard me. But; judging by his soft mutterings that soon came to follow; he had.  
I smoothed the fake hair at the back of my head down, trying not to irritate my antenna. I made it look as if there was an itch, or something else irritating – not too hard, seeing as there was something irritating me. Unfortunately, the wig shifted as I tried to fix it, brushing roughly against the tip of one of my antenna, causing me to wince slightly. They had always been sensitive, but ever since the accident three years ago, using the wig had become almost unbearable, as well as covering them in any other manner. It was a good thing that the school day was almost over; I don't think I could stand having this hideous thing on my head for much longer. I had replaced it last year; it would have been a bit suspicious if it stayed the same length for four years. It had severely cut into the little savings I had scraped together in my years on Earth; I now had hardly any left – definitely not enough to buy another stupid wig.  
I left the classroom as quickly as I could when the bell rang, and practically sprinted to my base. When I got inside, I slammed the door, causing GIR to rush in.  
"Hello!!!... Oof!" I gave it a nice hard kick as I passed - the useless piece of junk was always getting in my way.  
"Elevator, take me down to the control room!"  
I impatiently tapped my foot on the way down, it was taking too long. I couldn't wait until I reached my destination; I popped out my contacts and threw off my wig, rubbing my irritated eyes. Four long years, and I still hadn't gotten used to them. Once the door opened, I stormed out, leaving the wig and contacts where they were. I'd worry about them later, or I'd just leave them for the computer; it would eventually clean it up, even if I didn't order it to.  
After turning on my computer, I waited rather impatiently for it to boot up. Stupid Vortian technology, it's so… primitive and slow. 

"About time you got here, Dad's worried about you."  
Great, I come home and get a face full of annoying sister. Yeah, this is really how I want to spend the rest of my day. I dumped my bag and trudged up the stairs.  
"Hey – don't walk away when I'm talking to you! Freak," she stared at me as I gave her the finger 'yeah, shut up, Gaz,' "I'm telling dad!"  
Whatever, it didn't matter if she told dad or not, he never pays attention to us anyway. Gaz yelled at me for slamming my door when I entered my room; I wasn't a clean freak, so it was a bit messy. There were a few clothes strewn about, as well as my old school reports and papers. My walls were plastered with newspaper clippings from almost every paranormal event from the past twenty years, and my desk was cluttered with old files containing reports and photographs – mostly of Zim – from the past few years. I went over to my computer and waited for it to boot up. Once it did, I went through my desktop, searching for my old files. There was one in particular that I was looking for; it was from a few years back, when I was still in elementary school. I had set up a few cameras in Zim's house, and had recorded some of the things he was planning; or so I'd thought. It turned out that it was all useless shit, none of his plans worked, and all I got out of everything was weeks; if not months of my time; wasted. Even with this knowledge, I clicked on one of my recordings and leaned back in my chair. I had a few hours before I would be expected downstairs, I might as well get comfortable. Every video brought back memories, some more painful than others. Finally, after I had gone through a good portion of them I heard Gaz call me for dinner.

"…So, son… how was your day?"  
"Oh, so you're talking to me now?"  
"This is one of the only times I can talk to you, son. I'm at the lab almost all day, and I'm out of town every weekend. When do you expect me to be able to talk to you?"  
"You could at least call."  
"The only time I would be able to is when you and your sister are in class… and I don't think your teachers would be too pleased if I interrupted your learning."  
"The teachers can go kiss my ass; I don't care."  
Gaz raised an eyebrow at that comment and looked at me briefly, but otherwise continued playing video games. My father just shook his head, "I don't know where I went wrong. You used to be such a good little boy, but now, it's like I hardly know you."  
I slammed down my utensils and got up from the table. "Perhaps you'd know me better if you actually bothered to spend time with me. You're never around, you don't bother to check in or call. Of course you hardly know me!"  
"Calm down, if we can just discuss this rationally–"  
"No! You know what – I'm sick of this! Of everything; I'm sick of you and your stupid science, I'm sick of Gaz always telling me what to do. Sick of it! You don't care –you never have. I – I wish it had been you who died, instead of mom; at least she understood me!"  
Tears were streaming down my eyes as I ran back to my room; they didn't stop when I slammed my door and crashed onto the bed, "Screw everyone, I don't care anymore!"

"I believe you."  
I looked up, rubbing my eyes. I recognized that voice, but I didn't understand how it was possible; the owner had died three years ago. I realized that I must have left the videos playing, and it had gotten to one that I had tried to forget about. I got up and went over to the monitor, intending to delete the footage, but something stopped me – I couldn't stop looking at the person on screen. She was smiling, her violet eyes sparkling in the light. I just stared, focusing on her, wishing she knew I was watching. Of course, she couldn't, she never would. I kept my gaze focused on her as I sat down; it made me feel better, just looking at her. I could easily just sit there and watch her for hours on end. Though it pained me, I couldn't help but smile back.  
After a while of watching Cai, listening to her sweet voice, hearing her laugh, – I had been playing the video over, trying to get as much as I could out of it – I stopped the recording. Looking at the clock, I noticed it was almost midnight; far later than I had intended to stay up. The house was silent; Gaz was asleep, and I didn't particularly care what Membrane was up to. I went to the washroom, locking the door behind me. The hot water felt nice as I stepped into the shower – mentally, however, it was like heaven, or, as close as I was ever going to get.

It had been hours since I had started up the computer and tried to connect with the massive. I needed to talk to someone – anyone – before I completely lost it.  
"Hello? …My Tallest… Anyone… Please… Someone… Answer..."  
This hadn't been the first night the connection had failed; yes, that was it, the connection had failed, again. My leaders hadn't blocked me; the signal just wasn't getting through… it never gets through.  
I sunk down in my chair, leaning my head against the high back. I was too weary – whether it was from staying at the computer all day, or humiliation, I wasn't sure – to move any further. The computer quieted, the glowing ceased, at least it could still sense when I wanted it off; that part wasn't broken. 

The shower left me feeling refreshed as I walked back to my room. But, even as I crawled under the blankets and shut my eyes, I couldn't help but remember what I had said earlier; 'I – I wish it had been you who died, instead of mom; at least she understood me!' I know I shouldn't have, but a smile spread across my face; I really didn't care.  
Before I completely slipped into unconsciousness, I took this time to think about the past few years, about everything I had done. Cai was a big part in it, and I realized just how my life might have turned out if she hadn't been there, if I'd never met her. Another factor in the past few years, one that I found myself thinking about most of the time: Zim. I remember, one of the few time Cai and I had argued with each other;  
"He's not normal, Cai; I can't trust him."  
"I trust him; doesn't that mean anything to you?"  
"I – I can't."  
"You trust me, don't you?"  
"Of course I do! I just don't see how you can trust him!"  
"Please, Dib, I can't explain it to you now, but I need you to understand. As much as you two hate to admit it, you're exactly the same. All you want is for people to understand you – the only way for that to happen is for you to first understand each other, to trust the other."  
I do trust her. And I believe every word she said; now, I realize the truth in her words. It was then, that I made my decision. 

"So, the tables have turned, have they?"  
It was shortly after the lunch bell, and I was just dumping my books. This time, it was Dib waiting by my locker, blocking my path.  
"I wanted to talk to you."  
"The feeling isn't mutual – now leave before I–"  
He moved towards me, closing my locker.  
"Before you what? I said I wanted to talk to you, and I intend to."  
"I don't have time for it, Dib," I gave him a rather forceful push, knocking him backward a few feet. He fell against the lockers behind him, causing quite a commotion among the students. Unfortunately, Mrs. Carmac happened to be passing by, and saw everything.  
"Zim! Dib! What the hell do you think you're doing?"  
"He pushed me!"  
"I don't want to hear it – the both of you are coming with me; I believe the principal will be very pleased to hear about this little mishap."

"I blame you for this, Dib-Stink," My back was slumped against the back of the chair I was sitting in; outside of the principal's office. I had to frequently shift my position, because of my PAK, which proved to be just as much of an annoyance as a necessity, "…But, you wanted to talk, and this seems just about as good a time as any."  
"You're actually willing to have a civilized conversation with me?"  
"You have a better way to spend the time?"  
"Seriously – you're not just screwing with me?"  
"Does it look like I'm trying to screw with you?"  
"No; and for once, I believe you."  
I looked over my shoulder at him, raising an eyebrow; either that was the craziest thing I'd ever heard, or I really was going insane… perhaps a bit of both.  
"Well? Go on… You want to talk – now's the time."  
"…I don't know where to begin."  
After hearing him speak those words, ever so softly, I turned to completely face him, "You go through all this trouble, just to talk to me, and then you can't even think of the words you desperately wanted to say. Sometimes you make me wonder, Dib, whether or not it's just you, or your whole species that's so – doomed. Whatever, I don't care."  
"It's not that I can't think of the words… there's just so much I want to say."  
"So, it's too much for your stupid brain to handle – figures. I knew you'd eventually end up cracking one way or another… though I must say I was hoping for something a little more doomy, with blood… though a mental vegetablization is entertaining, none the less. But still – I would have loved to watch you suffer."  
"For once can you stop with all this 'doom' and shit?"  
"No, I can't. For I am Zim… and Zim is all about the doom."  
"Yeah, I think I learned that in the first year or so I met you… then it stopped for a while, and for that time you acted… normal, like a human would."  
"Ha! Just the thought of Zim acting like you pathetic grease monkeys makes my spooch tie up in knots!" To emphasize my point, I clutched at the lower part of my spooch, letting out a hearty chuckle.  
"All I'm saying is, ever since what happened three years ago… you haven't really been yourself."  
"How would you know, Dib-worm? I thought I no longer held any interest in you; that you didn't care!"

What he did then surprised me, it was nothing like I had expected; it came as such a great shock that I didn't even have time to breathe as he leaned in and firmly gripped my face, pressing his lips to mine. I had to push him away from me, so I wouldn't choke. Coughing slightly, gasping for precious air, I stared at him, furious. What the hell was he thinking!?! My sleeve was brought up to my face, so I could wipe off my mouth – the kiss had left a slight burning sensation, one that I was not used to, and found rather unpleasant.  
"Never," he said between breaths, "say I don't care."


End file.
